Thursday, November 15, 2012

Mohamed Morsi's approach to Gaza air strikes falls short for many Egyptians

Egyptians hold a banner with inscription reading in Arabic 'save Gaza' during a protest in Cairo against Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. Photograph: Ahmed Khaled/EPA

There will be no call to arms to support fallen brothers in Gaza. Instead, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood government has adopted a more prosaic approach to the Israeli offensive on Gaza, centred on diplomatic avenues and multilateral efforts.
Usually slow to react in a crisis, this time the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, responded quickly with a series of diplomatic gestures. He recalled Egypt's ambassador from Tel Aviv, had the foreign minister summon Israel's ambassador to Cairo to hand him a letter of protest, instructed Egypt's UN envoy to call for an emergency session of the UN security council and urged the Arab League to convene immediately.
Egypt also opened the Rafah border crossing to allow wounded Gazans to receive medical aid on the Egyptian side of the border. But whether all this is enough to assuage Egyptians – both secular and Islamist – incensed at yet another offensive on the besieged Gaza Strip, remains to be seen.
"It has to go down the diplomatic route, the international community cannot allow Israel to get away this," said Abdel-Mawgud Dardery, member of the foreign relations committee of the Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice party. "This is against human rights and the charters of the United Nations must change to allow Palestinians to resist occupation. We cannot put people in cages for years, that's inhumane."
There are similarities with the Israeli assault on Gaza in December 2008. Back then, the regime of Hosni Mubarak faced a barrage of criticism for its perceived complicity in allowing Israel to strike Gaza. There was no love lost between Hamas and the then Egyptian president, who was happy to potentially see the back of the rulers of Gaza.
Hamas is an offshoot of the Brotherhood, and it was believed that the Egyptian reaction to an Israeli assault on them would be markedly different with the ascension of the Brotherhood to power in Egypt and the longstanding ties between the two groups. However, many who have been following the Brotherhood over the years believe otherwise.
"They are a reformist, not revolutionary, group. They have shown on many occasions that they are more than happy to keep the [1979] Camp David peace treaty with Israel and not radically alter Egyptian foreign policy. The excuses are ready, let's build Egypt first and so on," said Hossam Hamalawy, journalist and member of the Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists movement.
Morsi's measured response may not be enough to placate Egyptians, who have already begun protesting against the latest Israeli offensive, with more demonstrations scheduled for the next few days. The government response so far falls short of demands articulated by Hamalawy, which include the permanent opening of the Rafah crossing and not just for humanitarian reasons, but also to provide relief to the besieged territory, and the abolishment of the Camp David accords or, at the very least, a referendum on whether to keep the treaty.
Waleed Shalaby, a spokesman for the Brotherhood's supreme guide, Mohamed Badie, said the Morsi administration had already taken bolder steps than any previous administration. "The presidency has taken steps that have never been taken before. The political will is now in alignment with popular will in Egypt," he said, "Political pressure on the Arab, Islamic and international levels is what's needed to save Palestinian lives."
Non-Islamist voices are also wary of the repercussions of getting too drawn into events. Emad Gad, a foreign relations expert and former Egyptian MP, said: "Egypt has to be careful not to be drawn into this conflict, so matters must be calibrated and calculated. But the Muslim Brotherhood rank and file may not be happy about this diplomatic approach."
This seeming disconnect between Brotherhood members and its leadership, as well as secular opposition forces – whose commitment to the Palestinian cause is no less unerring than Islamist forces – could potentially prove troublesome for Morsi.
"The young base cadres of the Brotherhood are sincere about the Palestinian cause," Hamalawy said, "what concerns me is the hypocritical and opportunistic leadership that mobilised mass protests when they were in opposition – with Morsi himself once calling for an end to Camp David – but now that they are in power they will not act upon it."